his mother was worn down from the demands of the past several days, that she had
lowered her guard a little, and it gave him a peculiar feeling as he waited for
an answer. After a second he decided that he was being spoken to as an adult,
not a child, and he was not really sure he was ready for that.
"Because it means 'the troubler.' It was a fancy of mine, and I never told
anyone. I knew that Alanna was going to be difficult, even before she was born.
And I have never felt comfortable with that. Do you know what set her off?"
"She said she felt smothered, but she also told me that she felt as if there
were . . . two people inside her, fighting with each other. If I did not know
better, I would suspect she had been overshadowed, Mother."
Marguerida shuddered. "If I never h
ear t
